• Posted on March 02, 2010

Guardian of My Being

You know, I’m really having trouble with this post.  First of all, the Olympic hockey finals are on and the American team just scored a goal in the last twenty seconds of the third period, tying the game. Cheese and crackers!  Now we have to go into overtime. However, as distracted as I may be by a little rubber puck, the real reason this entry is proving so difficult is that Patrick McDonnell is my hero, and I don’t know how to write about heroes.

One could argue that all of my posts thus far have been about hero worship, but my feelings for Patrick McDonnell go beyond an admiration for his extraordinary talent as an artist and humourist. This is a man who exemplifies kindness.  It informs and connects all of his beastly projects, from his comic strip Mutts to his work on the board of the American Humane Society. And it’s kindness that permeates his latest book, Guardians of Being.

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  • Posted on February 21, 2010

A Murder of Crows

crow callAs anyone who knows me can attest, I love crows. And magpies, and blue-jays, and really…all upstanding members of the corvidae family. These sturdy little mischief-makers are the smarty-pants of the bird world. And, in my opinion (sorry blue-footed booby), the most handsome. It’s no surprise that picture books about crows attract my attention, and three have made it to my shelves: Crow Call by Lois Lowry (illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline), Martha by Gennady Spirin, and Crows: An Old Rhyme by Heidi Holder.

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